Texthelp Keyboard (Beta) for Android

Posted on October 2, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS
Texthelp Android keyboard beta icon

TextHelp Android Keyboard (Beta)

As an iOS iPhone and iPad/iPod user for the past few years, Android device use and apps are not real familiar to me. I have a Toshiba Thrive I have used but keeping up with apps for one platform much less two is beyond my reality. Yet the reality is that we may have clients with Android  devices, especially phones who may benefit from supports for messaging, emailing and other forms of writing.

The Texthelp Keyboard (Beta) app (free for 30 days) for Android (recently updated as of September 24, 2013)  providing a replacement keyboard with writing supports which works across all applications (don’t you wish you could do that for iPad/iPhone??). Here are the features of the keyboard app as listed on the Texthelp Keyboard Google Play website:

-English (GB) Dictionary
– Form sentences from suggestions by swiping
– Next-word prediction
– Text-to-Speech Support
– Phonetic suggestions
– Variable text sizes
– Multiple keyboard support: URLs, Phone Numbers, E-Mail Address & Text
– Tap sounds
– Vibration feedback on keypress (on supported devices)

Here are a few images of the app on a phone and tablet:

TextHelp Android keyboard pic3 ph TextHelp Android keyboard pic2 Texthelp Android keyboard pic1

It appears to have important AT supports for writing as well as TTS on the tablet and phone versions.  Time to get my dated Toshiba Thrive out and see if I can give this keyboard app a try!

For more information visit Google Play Store. At present I could not find any information on TextHelp’s website, however I would check their website after the Beta version is finalized.

If you have tried it out share your experience!

Carol

Posted in Adults with LD, Android, Android Management, App Reviews, Apps for Special Needs, Communicaton, Computer Utilities, Keyboard, Text to Speech, Word Prediction, Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

AT Daily Shares – ChesterKeys&Case iPad keyboard and case with large print & color coded keys

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS

As Scooped from Assistive Technology Daily – The Chesterkey & Case 

Available in Chester Creek’s large print and  color-coded keys for improved typing  speed and accuracy, or a black and white keyboard both with large bold high visibility printThe keys feature extr…

Carol Leynse Harpold‘s insight:

Assistive Technology Daily shares the ChesterKeys Case and Keyboard with large print and color coded keys. Great for individuals with visual or cognitive challenges, it certainly could be a Universal Design tool for all skills and ages!

The Chester Creek Keys Case for iPad  is also available at Amazon

Thanks to Assistive Technology Daily for sharing their great AT finds!

OT’s with Apps

As scooped on Scoop.it – OT mTool Kit

Posted in Accessibility, Accessories, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iPod/iPad Accessory, Keyboard, Writing | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Waitstrip App – Visual Timer

Posted on September 29, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS
Waitstrip icon

Waitstrip App

Looking for a different type of visual support for task completion?  Waitstrip app presents a visual completion in a linear (horizontal) completion method as opposed to the more typically used count down clock timer.  This provides another visual choice of marking task completion that is not timed. Compatible with iPad,  (.99) Waitstrip Visual Timer app is also available for the iPhone for free (iPhone version will not work on the iPad).

Waitstrip pic1Options in Waitstrip iPad version allows a choice of 5, 8 or 10 circles  and three different circle colors (green pink or blue). Choose the number of circles that correlate to the number of tasks requested of the user. No timing element is available, only circles that when tapped change to a color showing completion of a task. If 5 work tasks are assigned 5 circles would be chosen at set up and each time the task is completed a circle would be touched showing completion until all tasks and circles were finished.

Waitstrip pic1a

Waitstrip app is a pretty simple app, but may just be the tool needed for individuals who may not understand a timer concept or setting a time for task completion may not work. Waitstrip disappeared this summer during the OT’s with Apps @ School Workshop, so it good to see it available again for those needing a untimed visual support for completion of tasks.

Waitstrip Visual Timer app, available for iPhone/iPod, is available for free. It is not compatible with iPad.  The iPhone version provides a choice of 2-5 circles for task completion. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch you might want to trial this free version prior to purchasing the iPad app.

Would this visual support be of benefit for your student? Visual supports are one of the 24 EBP (Evidence Based Practices) identified by the National Professional Development Center on Autism Spectrum Disorders. For more information, check out their website for specific information on visual supports and their implementation and the other 23 EBP’s.

More possibilities for your teaching, home or OT mTool Kit!

Carol

Posted in Apps for OT's, Apps for Special Needs, Autism, Developmental Delay, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Occupational Therapy, Special education, Special Needs, Visual Supports | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

BARD Mobile App from NLS

Posted on September 26, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS
BARD Mobile App icon

BARD Mobile App

The BARD Mobile App developed by the Library of Congress is the app managing files for those registered for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS). Seeing the apps interface, shows it looks very similar to the actual readers supplied by the NLS.

Bard

Free and available for iPhone and iPad, this app provides access to braille and talking books directly from the NLS Braille and Audio Reading Download (BARD). This service allows access to 50,000 books, magazines, and music scores in audio and braille formats. Using Bluetooth services on your iDevice,  you can also use a refreshable braille display and read the braille materials available on BARD.

What a great app making information more portable for individuals with visual impairment.  What I know about individuals with blindness is their need to carry with them numerous devices to access information with combined weight of the devices being significant. This app provides additional access to information on an iOS mobile device.

More for your teaching, personal or OT mTool Kit!

Carol

Posted in App Reviews, Apps for Special Needs, Free apps, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Low Vision/ Blindness, Music app, Occupational Therapy, Reading, Special education, Text to Speech | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Ten great visual support apps

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS

Ten Great Visual Support Apps
Scooped from smallbutkindamighty.com

  If your kids are having a tough time with Back to School, consider helping them along with visual supports. Why do I like visual aids? Here’s why: My kids can’t always process what you tell …

Carol Leynse Harpold‘s insight:

Deanne Shoyer, blogger of Small But Kinda Mighty, shares a list of affordable visual schedule apps. Her list contains 10 visual schedule apps, some familiar and some new, with a quick overview of their features. With so many visual schedule apps out there, I enjoy a quick overview to help with selecting options available for individuals benefiting from concrete, sequential visual directions.

Thanks to Small But Kinda Mighty for the time to put together and share this helpful list !

Carol

As scooped from Scoop.it – OT mTool Kit

Posted in Visual Supports | Leave a comment

Toca Boca Builders – Free (for a limited time)

Posted on September 21, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS
Toca Builder App

Toca Builder App

For those that work with preschool to early elementary aged students, Toca Boca is a familiar name for the creative apps they produce. For a limited time, their app Toca Builders (iPhone/iPad) is free. Developed with 6-8 year olds in mind, this is a fun app that features building with directionality and spatial relationship skills needed while constructing and operating the builder. Here’s a trailer from Toca Boca featuring what you can do with the app:


A fun and motivating app, the Toca builder moves and builds requiring changing directions left/right, back/forward and up/down. Definitely a spatial activity!

You also can paint and choose different colors of blocks when building.  Playing with the app is the best way to understand what is required to operate it. I would guess kids who game would be far better than I at learning how to operate the builder, as it took a little bit of time for me to learn to understand how it works (I am so not a gamer!). The app definitely took spatial skills to operate the builder and direct his moves.

Although I have not had a chance to try this out with a student, I could envision this app as a motivator for some students. Certainly those who have difficulty with spatial relations may not have an infinity to apps as such, but it might be a motivation after a hands on activity working with real 3 dimensional blocks and a visual block model. Reproducing block designs with Toca Builders might definitely be more challenging than performing the hands on task, but might be a great follow-up or reward activity after completion with real blocks. Could Toca Builders construct these Color Cubes Activity Set  designs?

Block designs pic2

You may need to scale down the type of designs you are doing on Toca Builders due to the additional spatial requirements of the app. This would seem to be a fun, free (for a limited time!) visual perceptual app for kids ages 6-8 years given some practice and the appropriately selected activity!

Toca Builders is also available for the Kindle tablet.

Have fun building! More for your OT mTool Kit.

Carol

Posted in Android, App Reviews, Apps for OT's, Elementary School, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Occupational Therapy, Primary Grades, School Based Interventions, Visual Motor, Visual Perception | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

iAnnotate PDF App – On Sale

Posted on September 15, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS

iAnnotate icon

iAnnotate PDF App, developed by Branchfire, Inc. is currently on sale for 1.99 (not sure how long!),  regularly 9.99. A PDF management app, iAnnotate’s features are numerous and well suited to students in upper elementary through secondary school:

  • Annotate with text boxes, highlighting and drawing tools
  • Customize the tool bars (great when used with younger students to reduce tools offered)
  • Workflow to Google Drive, Dropbox, Sky Drive, Box and more
  • Create new PDF’s with different backgrounds (graph, lined, blank)
  • Organize your PDF files with a folder system
  • Easy navigation with tab system and folder organization
  • Wrist guard tool when handwriting or keyboarding

iAnnotate pic2

This app has been a recent  choice as a form filling app for our students with dysgraphia. iAnnotate provides a number of features such as the ability to create folders  to organize documents and the ability to customize/simplify the tool bars, reducing the difficulty of use by younger students. iAnnotate also provides the type of choices for workflow needed in our school district  allowing transferring the document to Google Drive, Drop Box or by email.

Fore more information on using the iPad with a scanner and annotation app to complete  worksheets for students with significant handwriting challenges see the previous post “Creating Fillable Worksheets with Writing and Scanning Apps“.

iAnnotate PDF app provides many tools, an organization system and great workflow options. It is a worthwhile app at 9.99 and a real deal at 1.99! iAnnotate PDF is also available for Android.

More for your teaching or OT mTool Kit.

Carol

Posted in Adults with LD, Android, App Reviews, Apps for OT's, Apps for Special Needs, AT for Handwriting, Dysgraphia, High School, iOS, iPad, Learning Disability, Middle School, Note Taking, Note Taking App, Occupational Therapy, Special education, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

ER Browser – The Mobile Web Browser for Dyslexia & Visual Stress

Posted on September 9, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS
ER Browser icon

ER Browser App

ER Browser app for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch (.99) provides a web browser with choices of color background, font size and type and simplifies the content on your devices for those with experiencing visual discomfort and difficulties. Created for individuals with dyslexia, this app could also be helpful for some individuals with low vision. The ER Browser app  also provides a variety of dyslexia friendly fonts, letter spacing choices and different degrees of  saturation.  As a browser, ER Browser app, also provides a bookmark tool and browsing history. Created by Celf Creative.com  , more information on the research and app can be found at the apps website – erbrowser.com .
ER Browser

ER Browser is an iPad/iPhone web browser designed specifically for dyslexia and visual stress. Choose your Font, Choose your Colours and Browse the Web!

Carol Leynse Harpold‘s insight:

ER Browser is a new mobile web browser app (.99) providing choice of color background and font to support individuals with Irlen Syndrome. The color background environment applies only when browsing the Internet and not all apps so use of filters might still be needed when in individual apps if color filter is desired.  What is not in the color range however (although can somewhat be managed by dimming the screen in the Settings menu) are shades of gray which I have found to be a choice for some individuals.

If you are a color filter user on mobile devices, this app might just be a great option for web browsing or accessing Internet based information!

Carol

As scooped on Scoop.it – OT mTool Kit

Posted in Accessibility, Adults with LD, App Reviews, Apps for Special Needs, Dyslexia, Education, iPad, iPhone, iPod, Irlen Syndrome, Learning Disability, Low Vision/ Blindness, Occupational Therapy, Reading, Visual Perception | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Ergo Stylus from The Pencil Grip Inc.

Posted on September 8, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS
The Grip Pencil ergo stylus pic3

Ergo Stylus by The Pencil Grip

I just received the Ergo Stylus from The Pencil Grip Inc. folks, and I am excited to trial this stylus having used The Pencil Grip , as my favorite utensil grip, with many, many kids for all kinds of tools (pencils, pens, crayons, markers, pencil colors, paint brushes, styluses …) in therapy.

Trialing it on visual motor and handwriting apps the Ergo Stylus had the familiar feel of The Pencil Grip which can be used with either right or left hand. It has a similar weight and resistance when drawing or writing as  the Cosmos Chunky Stylus by HHI and the Cosmonaut Stylus which provides “drag” causing some feedback when used on the iPad.

Ergo stylus pic

The Ergo Styluses tip is soft and flexible and allows good connectivity even when holding it at a narrow angle to the iPad screen, important for a stylus. One of the things I did find that when holding it at very narrow angle to the screen when writing, the metal shaft occasionally would tap on the screen, but which did no harm. This should not be a problem with most students using the Ergo Stylus as they typically do not have enough finger extension or control that would allow a narrow angle position of a writing tool.

The Ergo Styluses tip as aforementioned is soft and flexible. The tips connectivity is good at all angles but experience has found these tips can tear or may be more easily damaged with use. A recommendation would be to provide replaceable tips for the Ergo Stylus for reuse and also allow easier replacement of The Pencil Grip if needed.

I like the Ergo Stylus and would be a good stylus choice for students who need a somewhat heavier stylus and benefit from the use of a gripper when drawing or writing.  At $13.00 it is affordable, but would be even more appealing if there were replaceable tips available.

I will look forward to using the Ergo Stylus and making it available for students or adults to trial. Thank you to the The Pencil Grip Inc. for providing the Ergo Stylus – it is a welcome addition to my OT/AT mTool Kit!

More for your teaching or OT mTool Kit!

Carol

Posted in Accessories, Drawing, Fine Motor Development, Handwriting, iPad, iPod, Occupational Therapy, Stylus, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Big Blue-Tooth Keyboard for the iPad from RJ Cooper

Posted on August 31, 2013 by Carol Leynse Harpold, MS, OTR/L, SCLV, ATP, CATIS
BIG Blue tooth keyboard pic1

BIG Blue-Tooth Keyboard by RJ Cooper

You asked and he listened.

That is what RJ Cooper does and is, a source that supplies tools for individuals with disabilities when not available on the market. His most recent answer to a need is his BIG Blue-Tooth Keyboard (199.) created to interface via Bluetooth to the iPad.

Big Blue-Tooth keyboard

BIG Blue-Tooth Keyboard for iPad

It is interesting that the same question was asked at the OT’s with Apps @ School Workshop held in August, however I don’t believe the keyboard was out at that time. Just yesterday I received an update email from RJ Cooper on his new BIG Blue-Tooth Keyboard.

RJ also provides his USB LargeKeys (119.) with an iPad adapter (20.) that is iPad ready:

Largekeys for Ipadwired-colored-rows

Other components RJ Cooper has available for individuals with motor challenges that are using an iPad include:

RJ Cooper has an answer for access with his BIG Blue-Tooth Keyboard and additional components for the iPad. More on his stands and other iPad components will be posted in a later post or go to his website to check out his equipment.

Thanks to RJ Cooper for his continual support of the needs for individuals with disabilities! Share the news!

More for your teaching, accessibility or OT mTool Kit!

Carol

Posted in Accessibility, Accessories, AT for Handwriting, iPad, iPad Management, iPod/iPad Accessory, Keyboard, Keyguards for iPad, Mobile Device Use, Mobility Impairment, Occupational Therapy, Physical Disability Tool, Rehabilitation, Special education, Writing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment